Blessed to be Called

 Jeff and I want to share something that God has placed in our hearts.  It is not public knowledge, but Jeff and I have hoped to conceive another child ever since he returned home from Iraq in 2009.  Lynsey and Jackson are such blessings to us. We are head over heals in love with being parents! We have always planned to have a large family, hoping that was God's will for us.  Almost 3 years later, it seems that God's will is not for us to conceive another child, at least at this time. I have pondered, struggled, and even gotten angry over this. It seemed so unfair, especially because it seemed like everyone else was getting pregnant.   It was even more puzzling because we never had issues getting pregnant before.  I prayed day and night to make sense of this. I had so much difficulty understanding why God's answer was "NO".  Weren't we good parents, raising our children to love and know the Lord?  I sometimes neglect to realize that God always has a plan, and His plans are much bigger than what I think I need.  I stopped praying to ask Him "why?", and I started praying for God to show me what His plan was for my life.

     After much prayer and research, we believe that God has called us to adopt.  I very truly believe that this is His will for our family.  We have always been aware of all the children in need of homes, and very often donate to causes that care for orphans and needy children. We also have always been open to adoption, thinking it was something we would pursue down the road when Lyn and Jack were teens. It seems that God feels like now is the time for us to pursue this.  He has given us very clear direction and encouragement about this decision. Many signs happened over the previous week that made me feel even more confident that this is the right choice for our family. First, adoption was mentioned in our CBS lecture last week.  My good friend sitting next to me already knew of our plans and gave me a knowing glance. We both knew that it was a nudge from God.  After CBS, the children and I got in the van and turned on KLOVE only to hear an woman who had been adopted talking about the blessing of adoption.  The next morning when I logged onto Facebook, the first status on my news feed was from Not of this World clothing company. The status stated, "The Lord will provide!".  I truly believe that these things were not random coincidences, but signs of encouragement from the Lord.
So what's next???......   We have been in contact with a Christian agency, and are planning an international adoption.Upon the agency's request(and we are in agreement with them about this), we will not begin the process until Jeff returns from Korea in 2013.  There is still so much we'll have to do: raise funds, tons of paper work, complete a home study, wait for a referral, etc. However, we know our God will be beside us every step of the way.
  We are so excited to be called to embark on this wonderful journey.  Like so many others, I felt discouragement because it seemed like my own plans weren't working out, but I just needed to listen to the Lord to realize that He had other things in store for our family.  This isn't our "Plan B"; adoption was God's plan for us all along:-)